Depression, anxiety, impulsive behaviour and poor cognitive performance in children is affected by the amount of sleep they have, researchers from the University of Warwick have found. Sleep states are active processes that support reorganisation of brain circuitry. This makes sleep especially important for children, whose brains are developing and reorganizing rapidly. In the paper
Neurological disorders may impact one’s mental health, a new study says as researchers found that there is a higher rate of suicide among individuals living with neurological disorders. A team of researchers in Denmark aims to examine whether people living with neurological disorders die by suicide more often than others. Neurological disorders have long been
For patients with chronic pain, medical cannabis (MC) use has a positive effect on maintaining sleep; however, cannabinoids do not appear to reduce cancer pain, according to a study and review published online Jan. 20 in BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care. The researchers found that MC use correlated with fewer problems with waking up at night
A Danish study of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and Parkinson disease (PD) found that patients with IBD had a 22% increased risk of developing PD over patients without IBD. The study, published in Gut, examined all Danish residents aged 15 years or older from 1977 to 2014 in the largest and longest population-based study
A new study completed by researchers at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine has found that living in disadvantaged neighborhoods has an effect on brain health.Individuals at risk for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) because of family history or genetic predisposition who engaged in six months of aerobic exercise training improved their brain glucose metabolism and higher-order thinking
People who develop Parkinson’s disease before age 50 may have been born with disordered brain cells that went undetected for decades, according to new Cedars-Sinai research. The research points to a drug that potentially might help correct these disease processes. To perform the study, the research team generated special stem cells, known as induced pluripotent
An effort to use voice-assistant devices like Amazon’s Alexa to detect signs of memory problems in people has gotten a boost with a grant from the federal government. Researchers from Dartmouth-Hitchcock and the University of Massachusetts Boston will get a four-year $1.2 million grant from the National Institute on Aging. The team hopes to develop
A team of Princeton researchers has conducted the first study of how baby and adult brains interact during natural play, and they found measurable similarities in their neural activity. In other words, baby and adult brain activity rose and fell together as they shared toys and eye contact. The research was conducted at the Princeton
In a prospective review of studies, researchers found the lifetime prevalence of any severity of TBI in homeless and marginally housed individuals was 53.1 percent, and the lifetime prevalence of either moderate or severe TBI was 22.5 percent. More than half of homeless persons and others living in unstable housing situations suffer TBI at some
On 1 January, California became the first U.S. state to screen for adverse childhood experiences (ACE), which can have devastating health consequences in later life. The project is not just a public health initiative, but a vast experiment. State officials aim to cut the health impacts of early life adversity by as much as half
Rates of concussion among college students are more than twice as high as previously thought and are much more likely to happen off the sports field than on, according to a new study recently published in JAMA Network Open. The team found that among approximately 30,000 public university undergraduates, about 340 concussions were diagnosed every
Veterans with a moderate or severe traumatic brain injury are more than twice as likely as those without a TBI to commit suicide, researchers report. A new study shows that soldiers with traumatic brain injuries often endure unbearable emotional suffering when they return from Afghanistan and Iraq. According to the Department of Defense, 22% of
Women athletes are twice as likely as men to get concussed—and the effects are more severe. Compelling new research suggests this is a distinct possibility, with a growing recognition that male and female brains may respond to injuries very differently. Female athletes also seem to require more time for those symptoms to disappear. One study
The results published in The Lancet Public Health journal suggest that one in two homeless people experience a TBI (53 percent), and almost one in four experience a TBI that is moderate or severe (25 percent). Their findings also suggested that TBI is consistently associated with poorer self-reported physical and mental health, suicidality and suicide risk, memory
Damage from concussion alters the way information is transmitted between the two halves of the brain, according to a new study. Research has shown that the corpus callosum, a bundle of nerve fibers that carries signals between the brain’s left and right hemispheres, is vulnerable to damage from mild traumatic brain injury, commonly known as concussion. Less is
Sleep problems, fatigue and attention difficulties in the weeks after a child’s concussion injury could be a sign of reduced brain function and decreased grey matter. In the MRI scans of children with persistent concussion symptoms, poor sleep was linked to decreases in brain grey matter and reduced brain function. Identifying decreases in brain function
Concussion has been linked to an increased risk of depression and suicide in adults. Now new research published in Journal of Affective Disorders suggests high school students with a history of sports-related concussions might be at an increased risk for suicide completion. The study examined survey data collected from more than 13,000 high school students
Previous research has shown that children with an omega-3 deficiency are more likely to have more severe ADHD. In this new study, the researchers gave 92 children with ADHD aged 6-18 high doses of the omega-3 fatty acid EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) or a placebo for 12 weeks. The children with the lowest pre-existing blood levels of
Researchers have discovered that one year after the event of a concussion and receiving medical clearance, signs of concussion-related injuries can still be observed in the brain. The findings were published this fall in the journal Neurology. By evaluating different aspects of brain physiology, including function, connectivity, blood flow and structure, researchers found that some components
Inflammation is a contributing factor in so many serious health conditions. But not all inflammation is bad. When you experience an injury or are exposed to harmful pathogens, your body reacts with acute inflammation to speed circulation and healing nutrients to the affected site. It’s when inflammation becomes chronic that it turns from Dr. Jekyll
